Development of severe intrapulmonary shunting in a patient with carcinoid heart disease after closure of a persistent foramen ovale: a case report

Background Neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) can affect the cardiopulmonary system causing carcinoid heart disease and valve destruction. Persistent foramen ovale (PFO) occlusion is indicated in patients with carcinoid heart disease and shunt-related left-heart valve involvement. Case Summary We report the case of a 54-year-old female patient with metastatic NET originating from the small bowel. The patient was on medication with octreotide and telotristat. One year after diagnosis, cardiac involvement of carcinoid developed with regurgitation of right-sided and, due to PFO, left-sided heart valves. Closure of PFO was performed (Occlutech 16/18 mm). One year later she presented with recurrent severe dyspnoea. The PFO-occluder was in situ without residual shunt. Valvular heart disease, including left-sided disease, and metastatic spread of NET were stable. Blood gas analysis revealed arterial hypoxemia (pO2 = 44 mmHg/5.87 kPa), which was related to extensive intrapulmonary shunting (31% shunt fraction) confirmed using contrast-enhanced echocardiography. The patient was prescribed long-term oxygen supplementation as symptomatic therapy and anti-tumoral therapy was intensified with selective internal radiotherapy of the liver metastases in order to improve biochemical control of the carcinoid syndrome. Discussion An echocardiographic assessment of the presence of a PFO is recommended in patients with NET as PFO closure minimizes the risk of left-sided carcinoid valve disease. Deterioration of symptomatic status in metastasized NET might also be due to a hepatopulmonary-like physiology with intrapulmonary shunting and arterial desaturation thought to be caused by vasoactive substances secreted by the tumor. This is a rare case describing the development of this syndrome after PFO closure.

P06.05 The Sitting Position in the Very Young Pediatric Population: Pearls and Pitfalls of a 10-Years’ Experience

BACKGROUND To investigate pearls and pitfalls of the sitting positioning in the pediatric population with special focus on related morbidity and surgical practicability. MATERIAL AND METHODS A retrospective analysis of a prospectively maintained internal database was performed. All pediatric patients younger than 18 years at date of surgery, who underwent procedures in sitting position between 01/2010 and 10/2020 were included into this analysis. RESULTS A total of 42 of posterior fossa surgeries were performed in 38 children between 01/2010 and 10/2020. Mean age at surgery was 8.9 years (13 months - 18 years). Mean height and weight were 134.4 (± 30.2) cm and 36.6 (± 21.7) kg respectively. Three children (7.9%) were diagnosed with persistent foramen ovale. Electrophysiologic monitoring was unremarkable during positioning in all cases. Mean time needed for anesthesiologic preparation and positioning was 84.5 (± 20.6) minutes. Perioperative blood transfusion was needed in 5 cases (11.9%). Incidence of VAE was 11.9%. There was no VAE related severe complication. One child (2.4%) showed postoperative skull fracture and epidural bleeding due to skull clamp application. Clinical status immediately after surgery was favorable or stable in 33 of the cases (78.6%). CONCLUSION Attentive performance and an experienced surgical team provided; the sitting position remains a safe variant for posterior fossa surgery in the pediatric population. Precautious skull clamp application and appropriate monitoring is highly recommended. Considering eloquent aspects, the sitting position offers excellent anatomical exposure and is ideal for combination with endoscopic techniques.

Cardiovascular MRI Compared to Echocardiography to Identify Cardioaortic Sources of Ischemic Stroke: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background: To compare the diagnostic yield of echocardiography and cardiovascular MRI (CMR) to detect structural sources of embolism, in patients with ischemic stroke with a secondary analysis of non-stroke populations.Methods and Results: We searched MEDLINE/Embase (from 01.01.2000 to 24.04.2021) for studies including CMR to assess prespecified sources of embolism. Comparison included transthoracic and/or transesophageal echocardiography. Two authors independently screened studies, extracted data and assessed bias using the QUADAS-2 tool. Estimates of diagnostic yield were reported and pooled. Twenty-seven studies with 2,525 patients were included in a study-level analysis. Most studies had moderate to high risk of bias. Persistent foramen ovale, complex aortic plaques, left ventricular and left atrial thrombus were the most common pathologies. There was no difference in the yield of left ventricular thrombus detection between both modalities for stroke populations (4 studies), but an increased yield of CMR in non-stroke populations (28.1 vs. 16.0%, P < 0.001, 10 studies). The diagnostic yield in stroke patients for detection of persistent foramen ovale was lower in CMR compared to transoesophageal echocardiography (29.3 vs. 53.7%, P < 0.001, 5 studies). For both echocardiography and CMR the clinical impact of the management consequences derived from many of the diagnostic findings remained undetermined in the identified studies.Conclusions: Echocardiography and CMR seem to have similar diagnostic yield for most cardioaortic sources of embolism except persistent foramen ovale and left ventricular thrombus. Randomized controlled diagnostic trials are necessary to understand the impact on the management and potential clinical benefits of the assessment of structural cardioaortic stroke sources.Registration: PROSPERO: CRD42020158787.

Decompression sickness after a highly conservative dive in a diver with known persistent foramen ovale: Case report

A diver returned to diving, 15 months after an episode of neuro-spinal decompression sickness (DCS) with relapse, after which she had been found to have a moderate to large provoked shunt across a persistent (patent) foramen ovale (PFO), which was not closed. She performed a single highly conservative dive in line with the recommendations contained in the 2015 position statement on PFO and diving published jointly by the South Pacific Underwater Medicine Society and the United Kingdom Sports Diving Medical Committee. An accidental Valsalva manoeuvre shortly after surfacing may have provoked initial symptoms which later progressed to DCS. Her symptoms and signs were milder but closely mirrored her previous episode of DCS and she required multiple hyperbaric oxygen treatments over several days, with residua on discharge. Although guidance in the joint statement was mostly followed, the outcome from this case indicates that there may be a subgroup of divers with an unclosed PFO, who have had a previous episode of serious DCS, who may not be safe to dive, even within conservative limits.

Biatrial Thromboembolism with Paradoxical Embolism Through Persistent Foramen Ovale

We present a case of a biatrial thrombus penetrating through the PFO against the background of massive bilateral pulmonary thromboembolism in a 75-year-old patient. Because of the rare condition, there are no literature data on consensus treatment. Due to the patient’s clinical status and the results of the diagnostic tests, for the specific clinical case was made a decision for emergency surgical thrombectomy with PFO closure.

P1706 Trilogy of stroke

A 53 y/o female patient presented with clinical signs of stroke. Substantial cardiovascular risk factors were present with arterial hypertension, hyperlipidemia, impaired glucose tolerance, and a history of smoking. Transthoracic echocardiography revealed a suspicious structure on the aortic valve. Consequently, transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) was ordered. In TEE, the structure proved to be highly suspicious for fibroelastoma. In addition, significant plaque of the aortic arch, and a persistent foramen ovale (PFO) were diagnosed in this examination. The patient was referred to cardiac surgery for excision of the mass on the aortic valve and for PFO closure. This case stresses the importance of echo in patients presenting with stroke. Apart from left atrial thrombus, several other possible embolic substrates can be diagnosed. Abstract P1706 figure 1

285Arrhythmias after transcatheter closure of persistent foramen ovale are related to the type and size of the implanted device

Transient supraventricular arrhythmias may occur in patients following persistent foramen ovale (PFO) closure. Therefore, the aim of the study was to prospectively perform 24-hour ECG monitoring to assess the electrocardiographic effects of transcatheter closure of PFO depending on the type of implanted devices. Material and methods 351 consecutive adult subjects (196 F, 155M; mean age: 40.9±15.3) were enrolled into the study to undergo PFO closure with an Amplatzer Septal Occluder - ASO (157 pts: 117 occluders – size 25; 40 pts – size 30), and Cardia device (194 pts: 163 occluders – size 25; 31 – size 30). Holter monitoring was performed on all patients before, at 1 and 12 months after the procedure. Results The success rate of PFO closure was 97.8% (351 cases from 359 qualified in TEE), in 8 cases the PFO tunnels were too small to be forced by a catheter, in one case the PFO device caused an injury of the septum and an ASD Amplatzer device was implanted. During the procedure in 3 (0.85%) cases transient supraventricular arrhythmia and in 1 (0.28%) case bradycardia to 27 bpm occurred. At 1 month: in 7 (2%) pts changes in AV conduction occurred: 1 pt (0.28%) had complete AV dissociation, 6 (1.7%) pts intermittent first degree AV block; paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (pAF) occurred in 6 (1.7%) pts, 2 of whom had pAF prior to closure. A significant increase in the number of SVE premature beats/24h was noted at 1 month after the procedure: 1167.9±409 (27–9976) compared to baseline data 60.2±44 (0–601) (p<0.0001), at 12 months the SVE number decreased to 57.2±51 (7–752) and did not differ significantly from the baseline data. There was no change in the mean number of ventricular arrhythmias/24h after the procedure. There was a significant correlation between SVE premature beats/24h at 1 month after the procedure and device size (p<0.001 r=97211). Pts with ASO device had a significantly higher number of SVE ectopy at 1 month after PFO closure (19123.9±70) compared to pts with Cardia device (811.9±324), p<0.0001. Conclusions 1. Transcatheter closure of PFO is associated with a transient increase in supraventricular premature beats and a small risk of AV conduction abnormalities and paroxysmal atrial fibrillation in the early follow-up. There is regression of periprocedural arrhythmias after 12 months of PFO closure. 2. Transcatheter closure of PFO with Cardia device is related to a lower risk of supraventricular arrhythmias in the early follow-up. 3. The smaller device is implanted the lower risk of periprocedural arrhythmias is expected.

P3709Risk of recurrent cerebral ischemia in young patients with cryptogenic ischemic stroke and patent foramen ovale

Background The cause of ischemic stroke (IS) remains often unclear in young patients. Relevant structural heart abnormities with known embolic potential may represent cause of IS also in young population. A persistent foramen ovale (PFO) is a known risk factor for paradoxical embolism, including ischemic stroke (IS). Aims The aims of our prospective study were to assess the rates of recurrent ischemic stroke events in young IS patients with PFO during a 35-month follow-up period (FUP) on effective antiplatelet therapy (OAT) and to evaluate a potential relationship with the presence of PFO on transesophageal echocardiography (TEE). Methods The study set consisted of young acute IS patients <50 years enrolled in the prospective HISTORY (Heart and Ischemic STrOke Relationship studY) study, NCT01541163). In all patients, the brain ischemia was confirmed on CT or MRI. Admission ECG, serum specific cardiac markers, transesophageal echocardiography, 24-hour and 3-week ECG-Holter were performed in all patients. Results Out of 980 patients enrolled in the HISTORY study, 260 patients were younger than 50 years and 185 (56% males, mean age 41±8 years) patients were classified as cryptogenic IS in ASCOD classification. PFO was diagnosed in 60 patients (32%). Six new clinically apparent recurrent ischemic brain events were recorded during a 35-month FUP. No significant difference was found in the presence of IS recurrence between patient group with PFO and without PFO (2 [3.2% patients with PFO] versus 4 [3.2% without PFO] of young IS patients, P=0.99). Conclusion The presence of PFO was not associated with a higher risk of new brain ischemic lesions in young patients with with cryptogenic ischemic stroke during a 35-month follow-up period. Number of recurrent clinical IS is relatively small, thus achieved results may be not so robust. Acknowledgement/Funding Grant support IGA MZ CR NT/14288-3, AZV MZ CR 17-30101A, IGA LF UP Olomouc (2016-2018), FNOL SUG No. 87-85